Money laundering case: FIA objects to unfreezing accounts of accused

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GEO NEWS
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KARACHI: A banking court resumed hearing the money laundering case against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur on Tuesday.

The former president and Talpur along with Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his three sons were present in court.

As the hearing went under way, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor objected to a petition by the Omni Group to unfreeze its accounts. 

The FIA prosecutor contended that the Supreme Court had ordered that the special court should not issue a ruling on Omni Group’s petition to unfreeze their accounts. To this Majeed's lawyer responded by saying that the apex court had not placed a restriction on presenting arguments regarding the matter.

The judge then remarked that the court will decide after reading the Supreme Court's order.

The defence counsel further requested that the FIA be ordered to present the final challan today. In response, the judge remarked that the matter was now being heard in the apex court. "We can only give a timeframe to the FIA [for now]," the judge noted.

Issuing non-bailable arrest warrants for five absconders yet again, the court adjourned the hearing till October 16. The absconders include Hussain Lotha, Arif Khan, and Azam Wazir Khan.

In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had directed the special court to not issue any orders in the case without informing it beforehand.

The case

The case was initially registered in 2015 against former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai, who is widely believed to be close to former president Zardari.

Later, seven individuals, including Zardari and Talpur, were said to have been found involved in using those accounts for suspicious transactions which totaled Rs35 billion. The accounts were allegedly used to channel funds received through kickbacks.

Last month, Lawai and banker Taha Raza were detained and booked for allegedly facilitating the opening of 29 ‘fake’ accounts through which suspicious transactions were made to different companies, including M/s Zardari Group.

Talpur had also obtained an interim pre-arrest bail in the case in the sum of Rs2 million.

Both the siblings are facing corruption charges relating to fake accounts and fictitious bank transactions worth Rs35 billion. Both Zardari and Talpur face allegations that they had illegally channeled funds through the said accounts in connivance with the chief executive officers of major banks.

In August, the siblings had also appeared before a joint investigation team of the FIA in Islamabad to record their statement in the multi-billion rupee money laundering and fake bank accounts case open against them.